Does He Want A Deal? CNN Panel Whines About Manchin’s Reluctance to Support BBB

It’s panic time over at CNN. On Tuesday afternoon’s edition of Inside Politics, host John King moderated a panel of leftists to bemoan the fact that West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin reportedly has serious concerns about President Biden’s massive $2 trillion Build Back Better bill., which experts have said will only pour more gasoline on America’s inflation fire. 

King started the obnoxious segment by whining: “we are 11 days until Christmas now and Senator Joe Manchin is still a maybe at best on the big Biden agenda package.“

He first brought on CNN’s chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju and allowed him to rail against Manchin’s legitimate concerns over the simple fact some of the new social programs – like paid family leave or child care that are proposed in the bill – will never be repealed, despite the current promise that they’re only temporary. “He does not want the bill to only allow temporary programs for to be extended. “He wants to see the entire spending package in the bill,” he stated.

Raju’s explanation was not accepted by King, who turned to his group of leftists dressed as balanced journalists to ask them questions:

“Does he want a deal? The plan was on the table for several months. It has also been in the public domain for many months. The process has been back-and-forth. You could offer a deal to the president, Chuck Schumer, or anyone else a piece or paper that said, This is all I have, vote for it. Instead, we continue doing what we are doing.

After playing a montage of Joe Manchin’s other concerns in regards to the amount of government spending being pumped out, and the possible looming conflict between Russia and Ukraine which could entice the U.S. to get involved and spend even more money, John King turned and snarkily asked his panelists Jackie Kucinich, Zolan Kanno-Youngs, and Seung Min Kim: “I get inflation. Um, sure. Sure, the debt is mine. How would home care or additional child care or other measures to preserve the climate affect the 100,000 Russian troops at the Russian-Ukraine border and the Russian-Ukraine borders? I need your help with this one.

The audience burst into laughter as if they were elementary students. 

CNN is free to laugh at their jokes, but the truth of the matter remains that economic laws will prevail over politics. Inflation will spiral out of control as long as the government spends more money on goods and services that cost less. Senator Manchin is not aware that bullying or mocking can change this economic reality. 

CNN has a segment where Joe Manchin complains about Joe Manchin’s reluctance support Biden for his irresponsible spending. This was possible thanks to lucrative sponsorships by Allstate and InventHelp. To let them know the bias news that they finance, click the following links. 

You can read the transcript by clicking on “expand”.

CNN’s John King: Inside Politics
12/14/2021
12:39:35PM

JOHNKING. We have 11 days to Christmas, and Senator Joe Manchin remains a possible at-best on the huge Biden agenda package. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says what Democrats call the Build-Back Better bill will pass by September 25th (sic) but, it’s a pretty big but, Manchin says there’s still a ton to work out. His office claims there was productive conversation. This is a quote from Monday’s productive conversation with President Biden. Let’s invite Manu Raju (our chief congressional correspondent) to the Capitol Hill conversation. And Manu let’s start with your effort yesterday to try to get Senator Manchin to explain what the issue is. 

MANU RAJU : John has major concerns. He does not want this bill to only allow temporary programs to continue. He would like the bill to include all of the possible spending packages. John doesn’t think that these provisions that can last for three to five years will be around for three to five more. He argues that Americans, once they have the benefits, will continue to want them. So, John believes that $2 trillion for the House Plan is not sufficient. Therefore, he is trying to change parts of the bill to show its true costs. 

KING (Ah, Manu! We will be right back at you within a moment. Here’s the problem. Do you think he wants a deal with us? It’s been on the agenda for months. Months, months. The big picture was clear. And then, the house passed its plan. The process has been back-and-forth. He could give Chuck Schumer or the president a piece paper saying, “Here it is. I’m willing to make a deal.” Instead, we continue doing what we are. 

SEUNG MIN KIM : Yes. SEUNG MIN KIM: He is clearly not in any hurry. This is so different from the rest of his party. Obviously, there’s no forcing mechanism here to get Build Back Better done by the end of the year, there’s no government shutdown, no debt default, and Senator Manchin understanding the leverage and the influence that he has is playing to a litany of things to show that he’s not yet ready to get on board and may not be by the end of this month and as every day goes by it seems less and likely that this gets done by the end of the year.

KING (To that point), to the litany. Let’s listen, let’s listen. You might receive a different answer depending on the day that Senator Manchin asks you about the problem.

[Cuts to a video montage of Senator Manchin]

JOE MANICHIN, Senator Joe: I know I’ve read some of the text but not the entire bill. When you asked me about inflation, I said that it is. It isn’t temporary. It’s alarming. It’s not going down, but up. It’s been discussed about geopolitical consequences. Concerned by the presence of close to 100,000 soldiers at the Russian-Ukraine border, and the constant flyovers by China taunting Taiwan, I am concerned. Also, I am concerned about the ability to pay down our debt so I will make sure that any money we raise goes towards this end.

[Cuts back to live]

KING: I get inflation. Um, sure. Sure, the debt is paid. How would home care, more child care, and taking steps to preserve the climate affect the 100,000 Russian troops at the Russian-Ukraine border. I need your help with this one.

[Laughing]

JACKIE KUCINICH : It would be great if I could. This will take me to yes, but I don’t think so. It’s okay to not negotiate with the press. While we may disagree on certain points, it is not clear that you understand what will get you to say yes. Behind the scenes, there are more problems, more issues, more reasons for you to stay away. 

ZOLAN KANNOYOUNGS Right? Right?  The only thing that has changed in the meantime is that Senator Manchin now has new information to use to defer this. Right? Inflation that’s not new. What we do have that’s new is a report that came out that said these are the highest inflation numbers that we’ve seen in roughly 40 years, right? We have a CBO score. This has been the topic of discussion in terms Manchin’s concerns over the price. But again that CBO score was also talking about an extension. He would be eligible to vote on any extension of some provisions. We’ll wait and see what he does.

KING: To be fair to Senator Manu Raju, it’s a fact that he comes from Trump’s second best state. He could run for reelection. That’s what you have been looking at. What does Manchin’s willingness to go for today, given the possibilities of Manchin calling the West Virginians six years more in 2024?

RAJU : Although he said that it wasn’t a factor, I spoke to Joe Manchin and many of his constituents who recognized the serious political implications. This is a state Donald Trump won 39 percent of the time. It is an area that has trended strongly in the Republican direction. Also, remember 2018! He was the only Democrat who voted for Brett Kavanaugh to be confirmed to the Supreme Court. This was the main issue he campaigned for. He was victorious by three points. His potential rivals are also watching his handling of Build Back Better. One of them Alex Mooney of West Virginia told me that if Manchin does something that’s conservative, that conservative voters like, like opposing Build Back Better. 

He could get backlash if he supports the bill. But John is not going to be that kind of guy. If he votes to kill the bill, then his core support will rebel as well. This is why this all could prove to be so important, both for Joe Manchin’s hopes and for the democratic agenda. He said he was considering running for re-election. He replied that I wasn’t ruling out the possibility and I responded, “Do your voters support this bill?” I said that there were challenges.

KING There are also challenges. There are many challenges. For our purposes of keeping track, we’ll be following this drama every day, Manu, up at Capitol Hill.